Recollections of the Past
by dragontrainer93
Summary: She left on a mission...but never returned... Naruto, through a little red book, learns about his soul mate's final, heartbreaking journey...A NaruSaku FanFic! Pls read and review!


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**_Hey everyone! it's me again!:):)_**

**_Well...here it is..my first non-AU Naruto FanFic! Took me awhile to edit this as i wanted to make it as 'Narutoverse-y' as possible!_**

**_So...pls read and review!:D _**

**_Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto...If i did, Naruto and Hinata would probably be dating by now..or married...:P_**

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_**A certain yellow head sighed as he stared at a short, rounded stone in front of him. Copies of identical statues surrounded him. Tall, neglected trees emerged sparsely **_

_**scattered, their crooked branches reaching out ominously. Naruto's mind became flooded with memories of his beloved soul mate. As he bent down and positioned a bunch of **_

_**roses next to the structure, the light drizzle began to morph into a rainstorm. He reached into his pocket and retrieved a small red book. On its front page, Naruto silently read **_

_**out the words "Sakura's Journal". At last, unable to contain his grief any longer, he exploded into tears. Hugging the book closely to his chest, he raised his head to face the **_

_**sky, tears streaming down his cheeks.**_

"_**You little idiot….." He murmured, "You went back on your promise…." He continued, "How am I supposed to move on without you?"**_

_**With this sentence, energy drained from his legs and he collapsed to the muddy, rain-soaked ground and rested his head on the stone.**_

_**Suddenly, he felt a familiar hand touching his shoulder.**_

"_**K...Kakashi- se..sensei…" He gasped between sobs as he turned and discovered his former sensei looking down at him sympathetically. Naruto stood up wearily and**_

straightened his green jounin vest, his own tears camouflaged by the Heaven's tears. Together, they made their way to the car.

_**In Kakashi-sensei's luxurious Mercedes, Naruto started to reminisce the events that took place during the past few months. Just days ago, prior to leaving on her mission to**_

investigate the peak of Mount Konohagakure, Sakura was beside him, giggling at his lame jokes. In the beginning, he was clueless about the events that took place, but bit by

bit, the little red book revealed all.

_**As of now, he opened the journal and engrossed himself in Sakura's adventures…….**_

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**November 21****st****, 2007, 12 noon, chugging our way to Mount Konohagakure.**

**Dear journal,**

**This morning, Shizune-neechan woke me up really early at around 5 a.m. She told me that Tsunade-sama wanted to see Yamato-taichou, Sai, Ino and I to brief us on this**

mission before we departed. I rushed over as fast as I could, knowing how impatient she was… I didn't want to be beaten up right before our mission! Tsunade-sama gave us

the outline of our mission and said a few other things, but it was her last few words that really bothered me:

"**Team Yamato…promise me you'll be very careful on this mission…." Was her last advice to us. Why was it disturbing? Cause she hardly ever cares what happens to a**

shinobi, unless it was something extremely critical. Does she expect something unfortunate to happen? The mission itself seems pretty simple and easy to me…..

**We packed our things into our backpacks, and then took off. Of course, I pestered Yamato-taichou to drop by Naruto's house so I could send him my farewells. LOL! Upon**

arriving at his house, I was told by his mom, Uzumaki Kushina-san that he was still sound asleep in his bed, so instead, I decided to leave him a letter in his mailbox. Luckily,

I had told him of my long awaited mission for today, yesterday, otherwise he would probably lose conscious if he found me gone! Hahah! Anyway, got to go now! P/S Naruto-

kun, if you're reading this, please know that I miss you soooo much!! Loves and kisses, Sakura.

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**November 21****st****, 2007, 8:30p.m, foot of Mount Konohagakure.**

**Dear journal,**

**We've just finished a scrumptious dinner of pork ramen, with sweet rice dumplings for dessert, kindly cooked by our ryouri-nin. Sure, the taste was nothing compared to**

Ichiraku's due to the lack of ingredients, but its still loads better than those tasteless food pills! _**Hell yeah**_**!! As I take a peak outside my tent, my breath is taken away by a**

beautiful sunset, setting the whole horizon alight in a reddish-orange glow. How I wish Naruto-kun was here with me! Anyways, I gotta go now, I can hear that Ino-pig

screaming for me outside...Jeez! Goodnight! Sakura.

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**November 22****nd****, 2007, 6:00a.m, foot of Mount Konohagakure.**

**Dear journal,**

**Hey! It's me again! The camp fire gathering last night was phenomenal! I ate so much that I felt like an over-stuffed animal! Today, we plan to walk as far as we can without**

using up our chakra, then start climbing the mountain once we get nearer to the middle point. The weather outside does not seem so favorable. Dark clouds are gathering and  
I can faintly hear thunder rumbling out in the distance. If a storm really springs up, it may interfere with our chakra manipulation needed to climb that mountain…

Nonetheless, we will go ahead with our plan. Sakura.

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**November 22****nd****, 2007, 3:30p.m, halfway up Mount Konohagakure.**

**Dear journal,**

**Well, we made it! We are now approaching the middle point. The weather seems to be clearing up and the first sun rays are starting to poke through the thick rain clouds.**

Hopefully, it will remain this way. The temperature is also starting to drop. If Sai-kun's thermometer is functioning properly, it is around fifteen degrees Celsius outside.

Alright, here's the rundown, once we finish eating lunch (sadly, this time it will only be soldier pills as we're too short on time for a proper meal...) and packing up, we shall

head up once again. Sakura.

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**November 22****nd****, 2007, 9:45p.m, a short distance from the middle point.**

**Dear journal,**

**I am still alive and kicking! Yay! We are almost reaching the peak now, but it's getting late, so we are going to have dinner and then go to bed. However, I doubt if we will be**

able to get much sleep as we were told to keep our guards up, in case the enemy strikes during the dark hours. The temperature has once again dropped! It is now only two

degrees Celsius! On the brighter side, I hear we are having an open fire barbeque tonight. I can hardly wait! Luckily Chouji isn't here; otherwise all the food would be gone

before we'd even get a chance to taste it! Apparently, he has gone off on another mission with Asuma-sensei and Naruto to the Sunagakure. The difficulty of this mission will

continue to ascend as we tread steeper road. I'd better prepare for it! Sweet dreams! Sakura.

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**November 23****rd****, 2007, 8:30a.m, a short distance from the middle point.**

**Dear journal,**

**Oh shoot! I overslept! _How un-ninjalike of me_! I sincerely thank Ino-chan for waking me up. Still, I hope we can make it to the top today! Again, my worries are focused on**

the weather. The sky is darker than ever! According to Sai's thermometer as usual, it is currently minus two degrees Celsius. Unfortunately, the weather will not get any

warmer. We are forced to use thermal flasks now, as the temperature is threatening to freeze all of our water supplies. I desperately hope we can make it! Sakura.

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**November 23****rd****, 2007, 4:45p.m, standing at the peak of Mount Konohagakure.**

**Dear journal,**

**We made it! I am now standing on the peak of the majestic Mount Konohagakure! It turns out that the rumor about those mystical herbs that could heal cells that are**

damaged beyond repair and return the victim to full health without side effects was fake…After all, not even bacteria could grow here! Also, there were no enemy attacks that

the Tsuchikage warned us about…perhaps all these lies from neighboring hidden villages are signs that another ninja war may break out soon? Sadly, my fears have become

a reality. A very fierce snowstorm is brewing outside and it feels like my tent will be blown away any moment! We will try our best to retreat back down the mountain

without harming ourselves, but that sounds impossible. Somehow, deep in my heart, I feel that we won't make it….. Nah, it has to be my imagination! Soon, I'll be able to see

Naruto-kun again! Ciao for now! Sakura.

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_**That was the last entry made in Sakura's Journal. Naruto wiped away the tears that had accumulated throughout reading the journal. Ironically, these were not tears of**_

sorrow, they were tears of joy. Naruto was happy that his love had managed to accomplish her life's dream of climbing Mount Konohagakure before she departed this world.

"_**Hey…Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto began, "do you think Tsunade-baachan was wrong to send Sakura-chan and the others off for that mission?" He asked, "I mean, I don't think**_

anyone would be stupid enough to believe that such a miraculous herb exists…"

"_**Well, Naruto, think of it this way," Kakashi looked thoughtful, "remember that time when Gaara almost killed Lee?" **_

"_**Yea… but then Tsunade-baachan was successful in the surgery and Lee came out just fine…" the blond replied.**_

"_**Exactly!" Kakashi exclaimed. Naruto stared at Kakashi, wearing a confused expression on his face. Kakashi sighed under his mask and proceeded to dumb it down for Naruto.**_

"_**As a medical-nin, Tsunada-sama is always desperately on the lookout for new and more powerful drugs so that she can help her patients" Kakashi paused," but because of**_

that strong desire, Godaime is ready to believe almost anything, no matter how absurd," Kakashi explained, "As you should already know, Medical jutsus cannot heal

everything, no matter how powerful it looks"

"_**I know that, but…but…Sakura-chan's life was such a waste…"Naruto could feel tears welling up in his eyes, "and it's weird how everyone just forgets a person when they**_

die…" Kakashi adverted his eyes from the road and looked at Naruto.

"_**Sakura's life has not been a waste... She was a great Medical-nin who saved numerous lives and will be remembered fondly" Kakashi stated while turning back to the road,**_

"also, Naruto, I don't think she will be that easily forgotten…She shall continue live on in the memories of those who she shared her life with…that's just the way life goes

on…"

"_**I guess that's true…," Naruto mused, "just like old man Hokage…"**_

_**Back home, Naruto searched his pile of letters and discovered a rose-colored one. He unfolded it to reveal a beautifully written message, dedicated to him. Written in cursive,**_

were the words:

"_**Dear Naruto,**_

_**If I don't make it back, I want you to know that my heart will continue to belong only to you and I promise that I will always be watching over you. Meeting you has brought**_

so much joy into my life. Anger, sorrow and joy, to be able to share these feelings with someone else has taught me so much. I feel, no, I know, deep within my heart, that

through time and space, our paths will cross once more, and I'll be with you again…."

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**_Checkpoint! _**

**_Now then..how was it? I hope it at least got some of you teary..:P_**

**_When I was writing this, my main goal was to make it very emotional.....in order to show Naruto's love for Sakura.:)_**

**_But of course , i tried to show in the journal entries that Sakura was returning Naruto's love...which, i know, is non-exsistent in the anime..Haha..._**

**_Anywas..pls review!_**

**_DragonTrainer93 (who is sick and tired due to the immense lack of reviews:P)_**


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